Social media platforms like Facebook can be great places to connect with friends and market your business. The issue is that social media accounts are also prime targets for scammers and hackers.
That’s why today, we want to discuss some good Facebook security tips for beginners. Learn how to have a secure account on Facebook by keeping your login safe, staying vigilant for strange behavior from other accounts, and more.
Tip 1: Protect Your Login Information
The first rule of staying safe on Facebook is to never give your login information out to anyone. The only place you should be inputting that information is on Facebook’s login page.
One common scam people use to try and steal this info is to pretend to be someone in a position of authority. For example, you might get an email saying it’s time for a “Facebook security check” and asking for info.
The reality is that nobody legitimate is ever going to do this. Real Facebook employees have your information if they need it, and any legitimate requests for your information will be through the site, not email.
If anyone implies you are required to give them your Facebook information in an email or over the phone, they’re almost certainly a scammer. If you’re worried, always contact a lawyer first before giving in to such demands.
Tip 2: Try Facebook’s Security Checkup
For extra protection, you can adjust your Facebook security settings to send you alerts when it detects access attempts from unrecognized devices, require two-factor authentication, and more.
They call this the Facebook Security Checkup, and, unlike the scams we discussed above, it’s both real and opt-in.
Even if you’re not all that worried about scammers, these are fairly unobtrusive ways to make hacking your account much harder. Two-factor authentication would more or less require a hacker have your password and your phone or email.
With about 70% of adults on Facebook, it’s easy to assume we’re more “in the know” than we are. At the very least, do yourself a favor and review Facebook’s security settings, and make sure you’re as safe as you can be.
A secure Facebook login is important for keeping not only your information safe but also the information of those you’re following. A hacked account can often be used to further trick people you know and who aren’t aware of the hack.
Tip 3: Businesses and Influencers are Prime Targets
Big influencers and business accounts are appealing targets to hackers, as stealing such an account can allow them to further trick people who are following the stolen account.
While you should always be vigilant on social media, the more attention your account has, the more you need to watch out. Even if we assume the rate of bad actors is very small, there are certain to be bad apples in any big enough group.
As a basic rule of thumb, you can be friendly but distant with accounts you don’t know. Never give out private information like your personal phone number or address on social media, especially on public-facing accounts.
It’s a bit different for businesses, which usually want people to know their number and address, but you still should be careful about putting out any information people could use to impersonate you or hack your account.
Coincidentally, if you’re interested in boosting your own signal on Facebook, you can hire a marketer to help you out. Just visit https://freeup.net/hire/facebook/.
Tip 4: Come Up With a Strong Password
While an entire article could be written on what makes a strong password, we shall try to cover the basics.
First, the expert recommendation is a password of at least 15 characters in length. That may seem like a lot but adding more characters to a password makes it much harder to hack.
Second, avoid common substitutions. As experts at Avast note, DOORBELL and D00R8377 are both about as easy for a dedicated hacker to crack. Random substitutions (a = 6) are much better.
Finally, don’t use memorable key paths. “qwerty,” “wasd,” and “uiop” are all bad passwords because those keys are so linked to each other on the keyboard.
If you’re stumped on how to make a good password, one recommendation that’s easy to follow is to use a mix of three to five random, unusual words, location names, and historical figures.
The only real caveat to that is that it’s best to make sure you have at least one proper noun, as that will make brute-forcing much harder for hackers.
“EnzosPizzaRadicalIllusionist” is almost impossible to guess, but it’s not all that tough to remember. (Although don’t use that one specifically since now it’s out in the world on a page about security advice.)
Tip 5: The Less, The Better
At the end of the day, we all use social media for different things. Some people love going on every day; others only use it to stay in touch with family and close friends.
As a final tip, it is often best to imagine anything you put on Facebook as going out to the public. While that may seem extreme, do you really know if all the accounts you’re friends with are trustworthy?
Moreover, even if they were, someone could hack that person’s account and see what you’ve posted. Or you could come up in conversation, and a detail could slip that you’d rather have stayed among the people you trust.
People have been burgled after posting they’re on vacation. They’ve had phone numbers and photos leaked. Social media is a great tool with plenty of legitimate uses, but it isn’t a very private one.
The less information you want to stay private that you post or even share in private messages, the more secure you are. A hacker or otherwise nefarious internet user cannot steal what isn’t there to steal.
Take Facebook Security Seriously
The biggest mistake you can make about internet security is thinking that something you do for fun or business can’t be used for more nefarious purposes by someone else.
Take Facebook security seriously and, with only a moderate amount of effort, your account can be safe against the majority of hackers, scammers, and other ne’er-do-wells. The trick is staying vigilant and informed.
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